Yes, the all-ceramic temperature sensor on the smaller EC1301's frequently died and cost > half the price of a new Iron. So I've also got a few of these that got scrapped, hoping one day to find a suitable replacement sensor at lower-cost.
The metal outer-tube EC1201 sensors seemed a bit better, but still found the occasional one that had failed.
Quote:
Originally Posted by jamesinnewcastl
Ah yes!
I had a blue triangular Remploy too!! And the little light that really didn't do anything. I wasn't aware that it was bad - just my dad saying to me 'let it get hot son, it's got to be hot.....'
So far I have had all the irons that have scored 1/10!
Cheers
James
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Yes, I remember that blue triangular one with a light bulb was also the first Iron I used, after my Dad bought it from a DIY shop in the 70's.
I'm not sure if it was earthed too well (and didn't have RCD's in those days), as I recall it lighting a neon-tester screwdriver when the tip was touched. So may have got rid of it due to that, or possibly it burnt out.
I think there are worse Irons than these - Those made by Altai.
I'm sure I've got a quite small 12W? dark-blue one, that I got for a few £'s new from Greenweld etc. that I later saw a very-similar one was on a safety-recall.
And a friend had a full size Altai one, with the tip seemingly Chrome-plated, as couldn't get solder to stick to it at all. Which I think it's heater also burnt-out after being left on for a while.
The ones I saw in Lidl recently for £10 inc. a PSU base-stand did look rather better - even got a spare differnt style tip. Although I'm not convinced they were truly temperature-controlled and I reckon the variable 'temperature' knob was really a power-control to save expense on a tip temperature sensor.
So more like those soldering-iron power controller projects in 70's / 80's Electronics magazines.